NFLPA Chief on Team Asking Player if He Liked Men: ‘Ban Them from the Combine’

The head of the NFL Players Association suggested that teams who ask “inappropriate” questions about the sexuality of players, should be barred from the National Football League’s Scouting Combine.

The NFLPA’s DeMaurice Smith joined Pro Football Talk Live and said that the team who asked running back Derrius Guice if he likes men, should be barred from the Scouting Combine.

“Find out what team did it and ban them from the Combine,” Smith insisted. “The question is inappropriate. Questions along these lines are always inappropriate.”

The union chief went on to claim that he has been unhappy with how the Combine is conducted for some time.

“I’ve never been a fan of the Combine,” Smith added.

As Pro Football Talk noted, the young prospects are in a tough position on such matters. No one wants to be seen making waves during a job interview, after all. One could risk being labeled as a troublemaker at first impression.

This year’s Combine is not the first sexuality question uttered at the event. Eli Apple claimed that coaches from the Falcons asked him about his sexuality in 2016.

“The Falcons coach, one of the coaches, was like, ‘So, do you like men?’ It was like the first thing he asked me,” Apple said. “It was weird. I was just like, ‘No.’ He was like, ‘If you’re going to come to Atlanta, sometimes that’s how it is around here, you’re going to have to get used to it.’ I guess he was joking, but they just ask most of these questions to see how you’re going to react.”

Even as far back as 2013, the issue also caused the NFL to stipulate that sexuality is not the league’s concern and such questions should never be asked.